Tracy Li

Research Paper

12/19/19

The Impact of Child Labor Worldwide

In the factories all around the world, products are being made every second.

When people check the tags on their clothes or the labels on food products, they notice

that most of the products being sold in the stores are not originally made from the

United States. What people don’t know is that most of their daily used products are

imported from other countries, where children are forced into labor. ​Child labor is

defined as work performed by children under the age of 10 in a hazardous or

harmful environment that may affect its health and development and can also

interfere with its education (Arbor)​. ​According to the International Labour

Organization, nearly 246 million children between the ages of 5 to 7 are involved

in child labor and roughly 73 million of these children are below the age of 10

(Sok)​. Although the number of children being used as labor is on a decline, child labor

remains in many countries, especially in the less developed countries, to support the

family. If child labor continues, the state of being and state of mind of the children would

be at risk due to long exposure to the working environment while not being educated.

In the past, children played a huge part in American history. During the colonial

period, children helped out on the family farm by growing crops, feed the chicken or

create some useful handicrafts that could be used around the house. They could also

work at other households as a maid, plowboy or servant.​ They were taught farming

and hunting techniques by the parents (Schuman).​ As America began to shift

toward the industrial revolution after the Civil War, factories, along with the farms and
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plantations, were expanding across the United States. Jobs were opened and millions

of Americans were put into work. In the factories, children were hired due to their tiny

figures, which were useful when reaching into tight areas where the adults couldn’t.

Also, since children are younger in age, they are easier to control and manage when

asked to complete tasks. Because of that, their salary is significantly lower than the

average adult’s salary, which was extremely affordable for the business owners. ​In the

factories, children were forced to work long hours, under harsh working

conditions, to earn money to support their family (“Child Labor”)​. The factories

were dim and the machines had sharp blades and other dangerous machine elements

to it. Many of the children who worked near the machines were either killed or severely

injured. ​Worldwide, it is estimated that about 22,000 children are killed due to

work-related issues every year (“Child Labor”)​.

Around the world, there are estimated about 50 undeveloped countries.

Undeveloped countries tend to be heavily in poverty with not enough money to buy daily

necessities. In these countries, women typically have about 6-8 children because they

do not have the money to buy contraceptives or medicines so they have to have more

children in case one does die. In that, their children would have to start working at an

early age to help finance their families. ​Occasionally, up to 40 percent of the

household income is the child’s salary (Milgram)​. Assefa Bequele stated, “We are

all here for a common cause, and we dream the same dream, of a world where children

are at school and not at work, doing homework and not building homes.”​ But we

cannot make that decision for families in those countries where child labor is still

rampant (Miller).”​ ​Often, the children must follow their parents to work and

participate in work, even if the work is hard and unsafe. The parents would also
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borrow money from the employer and send their kids to work at the place before

they pay off that loan (“Child Labor”).

In the United States, every child is required to go to school and get educated.

America provides public schools that do not require any payment unless the child is

attending a private school or college. However, in some other countries, families have to

pay to get their child educated. In the undeveloped, poor countries, not every family

could afford to send their child to school, so they have to send the child to work to earn

some money. Some children also multitask, work while attending school, but in that

case, the student does transition between the two harm their school attendance.

According to research, the attendance rate of the students who work while attending

school is halved compared to the students who do not work. Those students also tend

to have lower standardized testing scores and literacy rates than non-working students.

After all, those who combine their work and education will suffer in their

performance in school (“Child Labor Hinders Children’s Education”). Although

America is moving away from using children as a source of labor, child labor can

still be found in some states. Approximately 70 percent of child labor takes place

in the agriculture field (Sok​). In states such as California and Texas, children are

found to be working at farms under hazardous conditions. They collect crops and those

crops are then being sold to the nearby supermarket where consumers will buy those

products, which means that we contribute to part of the child labor process too.

In many parts of the world, the government or leader of those countries is trying

to get rid of the child labor issue. In the United States, President Bush signed the No

Child Left Behind Act, which increased the federal government’s involvement in the

education system and making sure that schools are achieving proficient academic
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performance from each student. The government also provides federal aid when

students apply for colleges in case they would like to pursue higher-level education.

There is a regulation passed by the government stating that teens are allowed to work

at age 14 and 15 with a limited amount of hours per week so that their jobs do not

interfere with school. They implemented the age of when children could start working so

that the amount of child labor would reduce. America also wanted to bring awareness to

the company that is still currently using children as labor and make sure that the United

States does not import their products from foreign suppliers that use ruthless labor. ​“My

hope is that we can get more support from consumers so they can understand

and become more vagrant to see where items are being produced,” Solis said.

Bill Clinton proposed executive order in 1999 that prohibits federal purchases of

goods made by a child or forced labor (Hananel)​. With the government actions that

slowly bring child labor to an end, many of the children will be provided with promising

education while stabilizing the family finances too.

Even though in 2000, the number of children between the ages of 5 to 17

working has dropped by 30 percent, there are still currently 168 million child

laborers worldwide and more than half of those children are working in a

hazardous environment (“Child Labor Hinders Children’s Education”)​. Many

countries, especially the undeveloped countries, tend to have a higher percentage of

child labor because they have a high poverty rate and birth rate. The high birth rate will

require the parents to work extra hard and may send the children to work at an early

age to help pay for the expenses. As a consequence of child labor, the death rate

began to rise from the injuries in the industry and opportunity to advance in society
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decline since children are not being educated and have no money to support

themselves and for the future.

Citation

Sok, Chivy. "What is child labor?" Faces: People, Places, and Cultures, Apr.

2006, p. 8+. Gale In Context: High School, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/

A147745973/GPS?u=va_s_128_0030&sid=GPS&xid=ac3051dc. Accessed 10 Dec.

2019.

Michael Schuman, "History of child labor in the United States—part 1: little

children working," ​Monthly Labor Review,​ U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,

January 2017, https://doi.org/10.21916/mlr.2017.1.

History​. A&E Television Networks, 27 Oct. 2009, www.history.com/topics/

industrial-revolution/child-labor. Accessed 12 Dec. 2019.

Hananel, Sam. "Labor Department Exposes Goods made by Child Labor."​ Washington

​Times​, 10 Sep 2009​. sirsissuesresearcher​, https://explore.proquest.com/

sirsissuesresearcher/document/2264244418?accountid=3785.

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